Baltimore auto dealer pleads guilty to evading bank report to IRS

Dealer deposited more than $2 million in installments of $10,000 or less

July 25, 2013|By Eileen Ambrose, The Baltimore Sun

A Baltimore car dealer pleaded guilty in federal court to depositing more than $2 million in a way to avoid having the bank report the transactions to the Internal Revenue Service, prosecutors announced Thursday.

Amefika Gray, owner of Network Auto Group at 2631 Gwynns Falls Parkway, made deposits of $10,000 or less, sometimes multiple times in a single day, to avoid bank reporting requirements, prosecutors said. Banks are required to report deposits of more than $10,000 to the IRS. Between 2010 and 2012, Gray, 39, deposited more than $2 million into personal and banking accounts, prosecutors said.

"Federal law requires large currency transactions to be reported in order to deter money laundering, tax evasion and other criminal conduct," said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein in a statement. "Businesses that break up their cash deposits to avoid currency reporting requirements face federal criminal prosecution."

The court must approve a plea agreement, which calls for Gray to receive a 30-month prison sentence and to forfeit $800,000, a Mercedes Benz and three residential properties in Baltimore, prosecutors said.